Eighteen people killed in Lebanon bus bombing

A bomb ripped through a bus during Wednesday morning rush hour in a northern Lebanese city, killing 18 soldiers and civilians, security officials said, raising fears that an al-Qaeda-inspired militant group is stepping up revenge attacks against the military.

The attack was Lebanon's deadliest in more than three years, hitting a main Tripoli street crowded with people heading to work.

The bus was left riddled with shrapnel, its windows blown out, as soldiers and bystanders carried away the dozens of bleeding wounded in the glass-strewn street.

It was the first significant bombing in Lebanon in months, and comes as the country is making moves to put three years of back-to-back crises behind it.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman was heading to Syria later Wednesday in the first visit there by a Lebanese president since 2005, aimed at patching up troubled ties between the neighboring countries.

A day earlier, parliament approved a long-awaited national unity government between the Western-backed factions of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah.

Some officials said the Tripoli bombing may have been the work of al-Qaeda-inspired militants seeking revenge for the military's assault last year on their bastion in a nearby Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr el-Bared.

Hundreds were killed in the months-long battle that ended with the militant Fatah Islam group fleeing the camp.

Since then, Fatah Islam has claimed responsibility for several small attacks on soldiers, including a May 31 bomb blast that killed a soldier in Abdeh, near Tripoli.

Aftermath: A damaged bus is seen at the site of a bomb blast in the port city of Tripoli

Fatah Islam's leader, Shaker al-Absi, has vowed to "hunt down the followers of General Michel Suleiman," who was the army commander during the Nahr el-Bared battle.

The army described the blast as a "terrorist attack targeting the army directly."

Security officials said 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed, while 46 people were wounded. A senior military officer told The Associated Press that at least 13 people were killed, including 11 soldiers.

The discrepancy in figures could not immediately be explained. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.Saniora vowed the attack "will not affect the launching of our government".

"Lebanon and the Lebanese will not kneel ... or submit to the criminals and the terrorists," said Saniora.

He stopped short of linking the blast to Syria. His supporters have blamed the country for past bombings, many of which targeted anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon.

Syria's Foreign Ministry denounced the explosion and expressed support for Lebanon "against the hands that try to disrupt its security and stability."

The bomb - packed in a bag with nuts and bolts to maximize casualties - was set by the side of central Tripoli's Banks Street and was detonated by remote control, security officials said.

The small public bus was carrying passengers from the Akkar region, further north, home to many military members.

Terror alert: The bomb was placed in front of a garage door close to a bus stop in the commercial district

Electrician Hatem Hussein, 24, said he ran to the scene after hearing the loud explosion. "The wounded were lying on the ground, men in military uniforms," he said.

Another witness, Khaled Bizri, 38, said he didn't have the "courage to look at the dead," who included a popular bread vendor well known among residents, named Abu Ayman. "Everybody knew him. This was his place for 30 years."

Tripoli, about 50 miles north of Beirut on the Mediterranean coast, is Lebanon's second-largest city and has a mostly Sunni Muslim population dominated by groups loyal to the Western-backed political bloc that has a majority in parliament.

Despite a relative calm elsewhere, Tripoli has in the past weeks witnessed sectarian clashes between Sunni fighters and followers of the Alawite sect, an offshoot Shiite sect, that killed and wounded dozens of people.

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami - a prominent Tripoli politician - said it is too early to know the motive, but said the attack could be linked to the 2007 Nahr el-Bared violence, given that it appeared to target the military.

Fatah Islam is a Sunni extremist group made up of Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs apparently inspired by al-Qaeda, though no firm link to Osama bin Laden's group has been shown.

It built up its presence in Nahr el-Bared over several years, using it as a stronghold until the military assault. Al-Absi and many fighters escaped the camp.

Lebanon has seen a series of explosions in the last 3 1/2 years, including a 2005 truck bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, an explosion that sparked the political and security upheaval in the country.

But there have been no serious attacks against politicians or public places since February.